1985 Pete Rose Baseball Card Set

 

While sorting through some memorabilia items I came across a signed baseball of Rose.  A few years back my sister and her husband were in Vegas, and some random afternoon I got a call from her asking if I'd like his autograph.  I've never had the chance to meet Pete Rose, so of course I took her up on the offer.  What was really cool is that while chatting with her, she was talking to Pete.  Turns out no one else was around and so I had plenty of time to convey the inscriptions I wanted on the ball and Pete signed them.  I'm sure there are some inscriptions I'll regret not asking for, but it is a treasured piece of memorabilia that will make for a good future blog post.

Which brings me to the topic of this post. The ball got me thinking about all the cards of Rose that I have (and don't have) and while digging out some boxes I came across this nice little 120 card box set.

This is a great little set for any fans of Rose. While the box is fairly generic, the cards were actually designed by Topps and a closer look reveals something else.

It says this was distributed by Renata Galasso.  So it seems this is a unique collaboration between Galasso and Topps.  

The set starts off with these 3 cards.  Unfortunately the designer didn't coordinate the photos better with the decade of stats on the back of the cards.  And for those who love stats, these are the only cards you'll find in this set with any career stats.

The set also has a few non-baseball photos of Rose.  I think I counted 7 in all.  Sorry Pete, I just don't think the beard works.

They didn't call him Charlie Hustle for nothing!  This set is full of Rose with the Reds.  If you're a Philly or Expos fan, sorry but there are maybe 14 cards in all showing Rose in those uniforms.

There is also a card of the lineup card.  If I have to explain the significance here, you may want to research this date.

The last card in the set celebrates his phenomenal achievement of 100 or more hits in a season for 23 consecutive seasons.  I did a quick search but couldn't find out if anyone else has done this.

Here's a look at the back of the card for the majority of the set.  A simple design with a little Q&A.

The backs of the last 30 cards of this set come together to make this nice puzzle of many of the cards produced by Topps (at least through 1984).  I noticed the 1983 All-Star card is not present as well as the b&w deckle edge insert, but the card from the 1984 update set is included.  How many do you have?

When I was younger and able to catch highlights of MLB games from the prior week, it always seemed like Rose was mentioned, especially as he approached the all-time hit record.  So for me, the set is enjoyable to look through.  It's still affordable and fairly easy to find.  For fans of baseball (regardless what you think of his ban), I think this set deserves a spot in any collection.